“We believe that it is imperative for designers to think beyond their national and cultural borders in order to create visual communication that is responsive to the diversity of audiences today.”

Since its inception, the United States has welcomed and harbored immigrants upon its shore. This has yielded innumerable opportunities and the fulfillment of dreams- but it also has come with some challenges. Today, businesses still strive to understand and develop products and services that cater to the broad and varied audience of the United States.

I think it is important to understand the value of diversity and cross-cultural design not only in how we uncover, think and solve complex business and design issues, but also in the way we work, think and act.

For many of us, diversity in the workplace has become critical, especially if we’re involved in the development of new products and services targeting the larger sections of immigrant communities. Multicultural training programs and culture-center approaches have encouraged designers and other professionals to understand and manage cultural differences better and become more multiculturally mindful.

The better we know our audiences the better products and services we can offer.

“Culture influences our thoughts, words, and actions in ways that are often unrecognized and that can lead to misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and less than ideal outcomes. No matter how highly skilled, well-trained, or intelligent you are — if you are making culturally inappropriate assumptions, you will not be accurate in your assessment, meaningful in your understanding, or appropriate in your interactions in the workplace.” Sookhan Ho, Pamplin College of Business

An inability to understand cross cultural situations and different perspectives can pose serious threat. For instance, when McDonald’s launched their first restaurants in India, sales suffered because the hamburger did not appeal to a population who largely does not eat beef. Likewise in Ecuador, french fries and hamburgers are not a common part of the diet yet McDonald’s doesn’t seem to be changing their menu for us anytime soon. One company that got it right is Kentucky Fried Chicken. Although it’s an American fast-food chain like McDonald’s, KFC has been able to succeed by incorporating home-style sides like rice, lentils, and menestra into their Ecuador menu. They offer “quality food” to serve with chicken, which is a mainstay of our country’s culture, in contrast to the hamburger and french fries of McDonald’s.

Considering that the fast-food market in the United states has become rather inundated, I am glad to see that KFC is expanding its franchise operations to the international market. This penetration strategy to reach the rapidly growing fast food industry of Latin America, offsets the plateauing sales in the U.S. And KFC will succeed, over the other guys, simply by understanding the culture better.

KFC’s strategy of expanding through franchising and diversification, yields stores owned by local entrepreneurs who were aware and more in touch with the community they are serving. These owners’ awareness of cultural differences, language, and customs has prepared KFC to better compete in some regions over the popular giant McDonald’s.